The Fantastic Sitcoms In The 1950's

The stereotyping of women is quite common in today 's society and throughout history. In the past, women have taken the full time job of being a mother and a housewife. The 1930s initially started the ideal image of a woman. A woman was often represented as a maid-like being who would serve to their husband and children. In Richard Alleyne’s article, “Advice for women in the 1930s: Nothing Destroys the Happiness of Married Life More than the Lazy, Slovenly Wife,” he discusses the frequent expectations of a housewife. Common assumptions included; “Don’t argue with your husband; do whatever he tells you and obey all his orders” (1) and “Nothing destroys the happiness of married life more than the lazy, slovenly wife” (1). These rules have often been published into past newspapers that were

The old feminine mystique, before the wars end was a woman would have “strength in her hands, pride in her carriage and nobility in the lift of her chin.” This change was caused because the old Rosie figure changed. Her attitude and fashion sense changed to accommodate the more ideal woman for a man of the time period. Not only did this figure change, but the figures of TV shows changed as well. In the shows like ‘Father Knows Best’ and ‘The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet’, ‘Our Miss Brooks‘, ‘I Love Lucy‘, and ‘The Honeymooners’ the women being portrayed are stay at home moms that support the family or women that are independent but need and want a man in their lives. All these women at first reflected the ideal woman, but after a while it became the majority because when people saw it influenced their decisions greatly. In the end of the time period however, and in the later shows like ‘I Love Lucy‘, and ‘The Honeymooners’, the women roles started to show more dominant traits. This idea helped to change the feminine mystique again, changing for the good.

At the start of the decade, society and the way people lived changed drastically. Women specifically were viewed in a different way. Before the 1920s, women were portrayed as the “typical housewife”. Women were supposed to stay home, cook, clean, and raise the children. During the 1920s, women were changing the culture and the stereotype of a “typical housewife”. Women began to go

As society has continued to evolve socially, politically and culturally, so has the persona of television. Societal transformations have shape and reshaped television throughout its history. Programs ranging from ethical series to variety shows to family sitcoms mirrored not only the audience taste of entertainment, but also the change of values within society during the increase in television use. Gender roles and a strong sense of family intimacy were among the most prominently highlighted transformations reflected in television. Women and family contribute significantly when analyzing the antiquity of the television. Television programming was designed to emphasize family togetherness through illuminating the importance of domestic household maintenance. Domestic sitcoms, such as The Donna Reed Show exhibited these liberal roles in which women were expected to subjugate to subordinate statuses and confine their

Suburban sitcoms coming out in the late 50’s early 60’s portrayed usually an average family with average problems it solves by the end of the episode, most sitcoms including “Leave It To Beaver” followed the same formula; two white parents, a mother, and father, and 2-3 children; every episode followed the same steps, there’s a problem, the problem is solved by the end of the episode, and a lesson is learned by the main character. This held up perfectly in the 50’s and 60’s society, but sitcoms needed to adapt to fit their society, as time progressed, more important issues showed up in the shows, and as the US became more diverse so did the sitcoms. Today suburban sitcoms couldn’t be more different. As society became more diverse, more sitcoms were made to cater to the new audience.

Insolvent, Ravenous, Fretting! Economical disadvantages leads to the three ideas stated, in layman’s terms, broke, hungry, and worrying. Unfortunately, many African American individuals inhabit areas that display very tarnished living conditions, which includes violent criminals, illegal activities, and very low performing schools, better known as “ghettos”. Consequently, due to the disadvantages and low prosperity in these communities, many young adolescents or student’s education suffers a great deal. Education is one of the most powerful apparatuses to sever the hardships of poverty. The popular 70’s sitcom “Good Times” and modern day sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris”, are two perfect examples of two struggling African American families that values education because of their race, family structure, and family roles, which displays reflection of society.

The decade following the Second World War brought about a new sensation of the ‘perfect housewife' and her duties at home. Men being drafted and shipped oversees during World War II had taken a lot of women out of the kitchen and put them into the workplace. This was the biggest movement thus yet of women changing roles in society and moving away from domestication. This movement was thwarted by returning soldiers, their moving back to the workplace, and the repositioning of women in the home. The baby boom followed the Second World War, furthering the encouragement of women to stay home and be the ideal mother and wife. Television greatly reflected this attitude. Sitcoms about the ideal family emerged left and right. Shows like

Bewitched is a sitcom about a man who married a witch. This show was featured in 1964. Elizabeth Montgomery plays a good-hearted witch named Samantha. She is strong, independent, and wants to do things the mortal way: she gives up her witchy life. Darrin Stephens is her mortal husband played by Dick York. He is a talented advertising executive. He follows his set of socially masculine behavioral norms. By earning a good living for his family, he is following society norms leading a standard life where one works hard to earn a good living for one 's family. Society tries enforce these norms upon an individual through a process called socialization. Samantha 's dominant mother, Endora, played by Agnes Moorehead, is who Darrin constantly struggles with against because he disapproves witchcraft.

She believes that because only two people of an entire village are acting strange, that there is witchcraft about. Before she even knew about Betty she assumed Ruth to be bewitched by witchcraft. In

First, what was the Culture of Female Domesticity of the 1950s/1960s? This time period saw the age for marriage dropping rapidly, a huge increase in birthrates, and a steady decrease in divorce rates. After World War II ended, men returned home expecting women to move aside as they regained their jobs that they had left behind. “These men also harbored fantasies of wifely submission as payment for their soldiering sacrifices” (Campbell, 65). Marjorie Ferguson points out what Betty Friedan has also argued, that the “purveyors of commodities were wary of an increase in female employment and believed that women’s appetites for goods and services were the mainstay of increased sales” (Ferguson, 34). Women were expected to care for their husbands and their children and also

In the 1950s, there were three major networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Most television programs were entertainment shows. Current events and political issues were not a central focus of TV networks. The most popular prime-time TV shows were comedies.

For this paper, I have chosen to analyze the sitcom That 70s Show. This show follows the lives of a group of teenage friends: Jackie, Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Eric, and Fez. The show addresses many social issues of the 1970s, including: Sexism, sexual attitudes, drug use, and the recession. It also highlights many of the inventions and developments of the entertainment industry, such as the remote control and Star Wars.

The 1950’s had a male dominant tone. Although wives were seen as the people who “ran the house” the husbands were going to work early in the morning and not coming home until night. A perfect example of what marriage supposedly looked like was the popular TV show “I Love Lucy” starting in 1951. Within months the show had millions of viewers becoming a

Hollywood created this image of women as an American mother who has this wholesome family that influenced the way in which women thought and behaved. Between Hollywood and advertising they created ideals for the perfect 1950’s housewives that were unattainable. Television ads reinforced the ideas of gender roles and put pressure on women to be the perfect mother and wife. Most women in the 1950’s attended school and college. Women usually went to school for the chance of

We have decided to conduct this study with the focus on three sitcoms from the 1980s which are Fresh Prince, The Bill Cosby Show, and Full house. In addition, focusing on three sitcoms for comparison in todays time, 2000s which are Full House, George Lopez and Family Matters. Each of these research samples display a variety of roles played, race, gender and change in family perception. There will be significant differences in the family structures as a function of time and race/culture of sitcoms aired in the 1980’s versus in the 2000’s. More specifically, it is expected that there will be a significant differences in the portrayals of family size, social class, locations, origin, and gender roles.